PHOENIX (AP) - A fugitive wanted by the U.S. Marshals Service has been taken into custody after a nearly 50-mile (80 kilometer) freeway chase in Arizona on Wednesday, authorities said.
The Marshals Service said 52-year-old Scott Rasmussen had a 2012 arrest warrant for a parole violation and was recently tracked to a home in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa.
Rasmussen was convicted of wire fraud in 2004 in Utah and served prison time, according to federal authorities.
A Marshals Service task force tried to stop Rasmussen about 11:45 a.m. in Mesa as he was driving a white SUV, but they said he failed to yield and that started a chase that headed west on Interstate 10 and eventually involved more than a dozen police and Arizona Department of Public Safety vehicles.
Authorities later used stop sticks to slow the fugitive’s SUV and TV broadcasts showed the vehicle driving on front rims and one flat rear tire.
The chase ended about 12:30 p.m. when law enforcement vehicles performed a maneuver to stop the fugitive’s vehicle near the freeway’s Verrado Way exit in the White Tanks Mountain area.
A handgun appeared to be taken from Rasmussen before he was handcuffed and arrested.
It was unclear Wednesday night if Rasmussen had a lawyer yet.
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